The Everlasting Phelps — an archive of an independent weblog, 2003–2017

The Everlasting Phelps was an independent personal weblog of libertarian commentary published from 2003 to 2017. It has no connection whatsoever to Fred Phelps, the Phelps family of Topeka, or Westboro Baptist Church; "Phelps" here is the author's own pen name. This site is an archive-framed reference and is not published by or on behalf of the original author.

This site is a concise guide to the completed publication: what it covered, how it was organized, and how its structure reflected independent-web culture. It does not resume the author’s voice or present new posts under the old name. It describes supported subject areas in fresh, neutral language and keeps the documented category and month paths easy to navigate.

Two publishing eras

The first documented era ran on the main domain from 2003 through 2005. It used Movable Type, a publishing system closely associated with early self-hosted weblogs. Entries appeared in reverse chronology, while flat monthly and category pages gave readers parallel routes through short reactions, longer arguments, lists, and comic interludes.

In 2006 the weblog moved to a subdomain and adopted WordPress, along with date-based permalinks. Publication continued through 11 December 2017. The later archive guide records that transition without inventing individual entries that are not represented here.

Subjects and recurring forms

The early record ranges across United States politics and party strategy, the Iraq-war debate and its aftermath, firearms and self-defence policy, press criticism, Texas observations, local radio, and the practical culture of blogging. These are descriptions of the weblog’s subject matter, not present-day positions.

Form mattered as much as topic. Some entries were compact link notes; others worked through an article claim by claim. Lists, web quizzes, satire, regional language, and posts about publishing itself created a looser rhythm between sustained political or media commentary.

A guide for reading

Readers can begin with a category to understand a recurring format, or choose a month to see how several strands shared the same publishing period. Category pages explain labels without reproducing old posts or personal disputes. Monthly pages describe clusters of subject matter without becoming post-title lists.

The archive index holds the full supported map. For broader technical and cultural background, The Independent-Blogging Era explains self-hosting, permalinks, blogrolls, trackbacks, and distributed reader response. The result is specific about structure, restrained about the author, and clear about where the record ends.